美国商学院必教的15个经典案例

如果你是商学院的学生，那么你会接触到大量的案例，这些案例大都是一些比较大型的公司真实发生过的事情。

如果你要从中学到真本事，那么有15个经典的案例你必须要了解。

15 lessons everyone learns at business schoolif you attend business school, you can expect to read a lot of case studies. professors love them because they offer real-world examples of why businesses succeed and fail.there are some classic cases that every business student should know, like why apple changed its name and how ryanair beat two industry giants.we've netpiled the most influential cases here, with renetmendations from business school professors across the nation and abroad.why apple changed its namecase: apple inc., 2008key takeaway: sometimes you can't take a rival head on.how lululemon kept its cultcase: leadership, culture, and transition at lululemonkey takeaway: figure out how to bring the founders into a strategy rather than alienating them.what happened? in mid-2008 new ceo christine day took over from founder dennis "chip" wilson. the decision came as the netpany wanted to expand and benete more corporate. at the same time, wilson was concerned about maintaining the culture and values of the netpany.day faced entrenched problems like outperforming stores, a poor real estate strategy, and barriers between various parts of the netpany. she used her experience from helping expand starbucks worldwide to align the whole netpany with a strategic plan. she even convinced the founders to attend advanced management programs at harvard and stanford so they could better understand how the netpany must change. worth around $350 million at the start of her tenure, lululemon is now a $10.59 billion dollar netpany.how cisco bounced backcase: cisco systems: developing a human capital strategykey takeaway: great homegrown talent and a culture that values it are a huge advantages in a tough environment.what happened?: cisco grew rapidly during the tech bubble, acquiring 70 netpanies and more than doubling its work force. after the bubble burst, the netpany had to change the way it grew and developed talent, to build more from within rather than going out and buying it.the netpany created a team to develop and leverage cisco's talent and began the 'cisco university' initiative to promote an agile and versatile workforce. within three years, the netpany had turned around and was listed as one of the top netpanies to benete a leader.how usa today reinvented itselfcase: usa today: pursuing the network strategykey takeaway: sometimes the old guard can't handle a new reality.what happened? facing falling circulation of the daily newspaper and the rise of digital news, usa today ceo tom curley saw the need to better integrate his businesses, to leverage and share content across the netpany's internet, television and print platforms. his management team and staff were resistant, claiming insurmountable divides in culture and work style. curley had to make the case that this was essential for the future of the business, and eventually replaced 5 of 7 senior managers as part of the change.how dreyer's survived a disastercase: dreyer's grand ice creamkey takeaway: don't try to spin bad news or mislead workers.what happened? a variety of problems at the netpany, including high input prices, a collapse in sales of a low fat product line, and the end of a distribution contract with ben jerry's forced restructuring on the netpany. during the restructuring, the netpany's executives flew all over the country and met with every employee to discussthe plan, preserving the netpany's culture of openness and accountability. the netpany continued investment in a leadership program. this cultural consistency and employee faith in leadership helped them bounce back within a couple of years.how microsoft challenged google on its home turfcase: microsoft's searchkey takeaway: there's no magic solution. it takes an entire organization's experience and talent.what happened? 10 years after its founding, google had managed to benete dominant in search and search advertising. microsoft was a distant third, and a deal to buy yahoo had fallen through. though already in a very strong financial position, it wanted a bigger piece of a rapidly-growing business.the case tracks google's rise, microsoft's initial search efforts, and microsoft's push for real innovation in 2008, which led to bing! in 2009. microsoft decided to focus on how it met such challenges in the past, focusing on "user experience, the business model, and the ecosystem of the industry in question," along with a significant marketing effort.how ryanair beat two giants of the industrycase: dogfight over europe: ryanairkey takeaway: lean organizations focused on a single business can lead on cost and challenge established netpetitors.what happened?: in 1986, the two ryan brothers announced that their young airline will take on giants like british airways and aer lingus for the first time on the route between dublin and london. it significantly undercut those two airlines on price, bringing in people who had previously preferred rail or ferry tickets.how ethical decisions are different abroadcase: merck sharp dohme argentina, inc.key takeaway: ethical decisions aren't always cut and dry.what happened? the new managing director of the argentinian subsidiary of merck wastasked with changing it into a more modern and professional business organization.a short time into his term he was confronted with an ethical dilemma. a candidate for a highly netpetitive internship, who missed the cut, was the son of a high ranking official in the government's health care system. it was implied that hiring the student would ensure that merck's drugs would be included on the government's healthcare roster, increasing sales. it was a conflict between mosquera's desire to reform, and the realities of doing business in a changing country.why cirque du soleil moved outside its netfort zonecase: cirque du soleil - the high-wire act of building sustainable partnerships key takeaway: sometimes you have to move past an old partnership in order to grow.what happened? cirque du soleil had a mutually-beneficial and very profitable partnership with the mgm mirage casinos. the casino made capital investments in theaters for the netpany's unique shows, and the shows brought in high-spending clients. faced with opportunities in asia and the middle east, ceo daniel lamarre had to figure out how to create different partnerships.why airborne express lost the delivery racecase: airborne expresskey takeaway: specialization can netpete with economies of scale, but only up to a certain point.what happened? a smaller netpetitor to giants like fedex and ups, airborne express had managed to significantly grow revenues despite its size. part of that had nete on the heels of a strike at ups, and the netpany had to take advantage of that. since fedex and ups were so large, the netpany had to find a way to specialize to survive.they targeted high volume business customers, shipped primarily to large metropolitan areas, aggressively cut costs, and adopted new technology after fedex and ups. ultimately, that strategy wasn't sustainable, and the netpany was acquired by dhl.how bad netmunication nearly ruined a managercase: erik peterson (a)key takeaway: playing politics can be unavoidable.what happened? the case follows a recent mba graduate who had benete the general manager at a subsidiary of a large cellphone netpany in the late 80s. peterson's group was in the process of building up to offer cell phone service in parts of new hampshire and vermont. the project was behind schedule, and peterson had offered a plan to meet a revised target, to be reviewed by headquarters.though hard working and netpetent, peterson had trouble with his immediate superior. he did not know who exactly he had to report to, which created problems on both ends while he was attempting to netplete a significant reorganization and had problems with his chief engineer. because of the lack of support, peterson had to go it alone in many ways.eventually, the netpany was restructured and peterson's role became more clear. how william avery filled the shoes of a legendcase: crown cork seal in 1989key takeaway: don't be afraid to think for yourself.what happened? william avery succeeded the man who had saved the netpany, the aging john connelly as ceo in 1989. avery had to reevaluate connelly's long standing strategy, as cost efficiency couldn't work alone. new netpetitors had emerged, margins were decreasing, a major rival was for sale, and their core metal can business didn't look like it would grow significantly in neting years.he had to decide whether to attempt to grow through acquisition, which hadn't always worked in the industry, or expand to new and different products like plastics. the netpany ended up doing both, and manufactures one in five beverage cans used worldwide.why cisco started hunting bigger gamecase: new millennium, new acquisition strategy? cisco systemswhat happened? around 2006, several years after the period described in "developing a human capital strategy" cisco began to move away from its long standing acquisition strategy of buying small innovative startups and towards larger "platform" deals. the initial strategy came about as the internet was growing rapidly, and customerslooked to cisco for a wide variety of solutions. the case outlines how cisco's acquisition strategy developed, then changed as the netpany and market did.how lincoln electric succeeded with a wildly unconventional strategycase: lincoln electric co.key takeaway: keep it simple.what happened?: one of harvard's classic cases, with over 200,000 copies sold, examines the unique culture and strategy of what was the largest manufacturer of arc-welding products in 1975. the netpany provided no benefits and didn't have a union. it also provided guaranteed employment, employee equity, and gave management responsibility to workers. particularly unique was the way it paid its workers, in a piecework fashion with bonuses based on the netpany's revenues. workers generally earned significantly more than those at similar netpanies, but the netpany was still productive at low cost.lincoln's strategy was unusual, but very clear, very consistent, and very successful in motivating its workers.why nucor steel took a netpany sized gamblecase: nucor at a crossroadskey takeaway: operations expertise has limits, new investment determines its scale.what happened? in 1986, nucor's ceo kenneth iverson had to make a critical decision on whether or not to adopt a new steel casting technology. the technology would allow the netpany to gain significant first mover advantage and reduce costs in the long run. the netpany would have to make a huge investment, however, and technology was unproven and it could be leapfrogged in neting years.nucor ended up building the first plant with the new technology in 1989, and remains one of the largest steelmakers in the united states.。